Angry Planet

Matthew Gault and Jason Fields
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Conversations about conflict on an angry planet. Created, produced, and hosted by Matthew Gault and Jason Fields 781951 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 2D AGO

    On Spectacles of Cruelty

    On the last Angry Planet of 2025, novelist and Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay returns to reflect on a year of spectacle and cruelty. Between the Pentagon’s boat strikes and the administration’s constant barrage of grotesque memes, it feels like America is a crueler and cruder place. For better and worse, the Presidency sets a moral standard for the country and Trump has lowered that standard. Klay wrote about all this in a piece at The New York Times and he’s here with us today to talk through it. “It’s too easy to condemn.”The project is spectacles of cruelty“You’re not supposed to be joining a gang of thugs.”What is this doing to us as a nation?The lust for cruelty and dominationKlay’s review of Hegseth’s first yearWar vs. Defense“Read long things.”Living in the Hell of opinionsEnding on a high note What Trump Is Really Doing With His Boat Strikes Trump Admin’s Racist Halo Memes Are ‘A New Level of Dehumanization of Immigrants’ Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min

  2. 12/19/2025

    Google’s Former CEO Is Dancing in Ukraine

    Earlier this year journalist Ben Makuch caught a glimpse of Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, dancing at a club in Kyiv. It was a surreal moment, a snapshot of a tragic war that the West thinks is defining the future of conflict. Tech executives have flocked to Ukraine, courting the country in an attempt to get at a resource more precious than gold: data. Makuch was just there and has written about what he saw for The New Republic and he’s on the show today to talk about it. Some light smoking banterBen’s timelineGoogle’s CEO dancing in a bar in KyivUkraine as laboratory for war techThe JSOC era is overIn defense of the majestic American turkeyThe great America vs China speculationWar, cheaperOn the actual frontlineWheat fields of fiber optic lineThe buzz of the droneLife in the bloodlandsThe human suffering of living in UkraineFPV-made propaganda“Never underestimate human innovation when it comes to killing other humans.”What’s Erik Prince doing in Ukraine? New York Times on Military Reform The Medieval—and Highly Effective—Tactics of the Ukrainian Protests Who Is St. Javelin and Why Is She a Symbol of the War in Ukraine? ‘Cope Cages’ on Busted Tanks Are a Symbol of Russia’s Military Failures ‘Unauthorized’ Edit to Ukraine’s Frontline Maps Point to Polymarket’s War Betting Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 9m

  3. 12/12/2025

    ‘Capitalism Is a Series of Regime Changes’

    Another week and another Angry Planet about the horrifying systems that rule our lives. Is there a depressive theme running through the work right now? Possibly. I promise we’ll soon replace it with rage. This week on the show we have Sven Beckert to talk about his new book Capitalism: A Global History. Beckert is a professor of history at Harvard and his tome is an attempt to capture the entire history of an economic system in one book. It’s a doorstop, but it’s also readable and clear-eyed. Some come with me on a journey that runs through the plantations of South Carolina to the tech markets of Shenzhen. Cotton as an entry point to the history of capitalismThe economic big bangIndustrial Revolution as mutation“It’s still being born.”Human data is oil to be frackedThe Quaker Oats metaphor“The market is God.”Ascribing morality to economicsWhen Gary Hart ushered in Neoliberalism“Capitalism is a series of regime changes.”Moments of great change offer opportunities Capitalism: A Global History The Old Order Is Dead. Do Not Resuscitate. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min

  4. 12/06/2025

    The US Government’s AI Grand Bargain

    The White House is portraying the race to adopt AI as an existential crisis. It’s the next Manhattan Project, they say, a technology so important it will require an unprecedented build out of energy infrastructure and massive data centers. But the Manhattan Project was a government-led technological drive whereas AI is led by salesmen and corporations. What could possibly go wrong? On this episode of Angry Planet, Ben Buchanan is here to tell us about the government’s role in fostering AI. Buchanan was an AI advisor during the Biden administration where he helped write the policy that paved the way for private-public partnerships between DC and AI companies. Now he’s a professor at John Hopkins and, though he’s still an AI advocate, he’s got concerns. Slop, public land use, and autonomous weapons. We get into it all on this episode of Angry Planet. AI as an arm’s raceNukes are cheaper than AIGovernment’s role in the construction of AI infrastructureWhat are the stakes of the AI competition between the United States and China?“More powerful AI systems will enable more powerful cyber operations.”“It’s the hardest thing we do as a species.”Turning over federal lands to data centersHow Trump is shooting himself in the foot regarding AI“We’re just chasing power all across the country.”“We’re going to be building data centers for a very long time.”How the AI expert uses AI“There’s a long list of concerns.”Accident reports and autonomous weapons The AI Grand Bargain Ben Buchanan DOE on federal lands for data centers Anthropic Has a Plan to Keep Its AI From Building a Nuclear Weapon. Will It Work? DoD Direction 3000.09 Autonomy in Weapons Systems Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    54 min

  5. 11/21/2025

    Deadwood: The Town that Made the Wild West

    Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com This week on Angry Planet we’re taking a break from the horrors of the present to explore horrors of a past distant enough now that they’re entertaining. But then, America found those horrors pretty entertaining at the time, too. Even when it was still a thriving community and a going concern, the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, was the subject of dimestore novels and tall tales. Peter Cozzens is here with us to talk about his new book Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West. Cozzens is a historian who has written 17 books that focus on the U.S. Civil War, the Wild West, and the American Indian Wars. His latest work is all about Deadwood and the wild cast of characters who inhabited it. Come sit with us a spell and learn about the real Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, and Al Swearengen. “Power comes to any man who has the color.”Black Elk and how the West Was LostConflicting perceptions of Wild Bill HickockProfessional gamblersCreating Calamity JaneSoftening George Hearst“In the West, women didn’t wear underwear.”Deadwood burnsHow history becomes a dime store novel“The most diabolical town on the face of the earth.” Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    51 min

  6. 11/14/2025

    Learning to Love the Stagnant Order

    Is your Empire feeling less than fresh? Does it feel like the modern world’s best days are behind it? Do conquest and global power politics not hit as good as they used to? Welcome to the Age of Stagnation, a time when the fruits of the Industrial Revolution can be enjoyed but not replicated. It’s making us all a little crazy, especially world leaders. With us today on the show is Michael Beckley, a political science professor at Tufts University and his career includes stretches at the Pentagon, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the RAND Corporation. To hear Beckley tell it, stagnation might not be such a bad thing. If we can avoid repeating the worst mistakes of the 20th century and let go of a “number go up” mind set, then maybe we can all learn to enjoy a long age of stabilization. The diminishing returns of the Industrial RevolutionWinners and losers in the Age of AscentMoore’s Law sputters outStabilization isn’t so bad. “We’re some of the luckiest people who’ve ever lived.”Shenanigans and shithouseryAI isn’t “ready” yetWhy conquest doesn’t work anymoreChina as a paper tiger in the age of stabilizationAmerica’s unique advantages“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” - Mike Tyson The Stagnant Order I Tried the Robot That’s Coming to Live With You. It’s Still Part Human. Michael Beckley Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    59 min

  7. 11/07/2025

    ‘Goliath’s Curse’ and the Surprising Benefits of Societal Collapse

    We’re obsessed with apocalypses, big and small. We fantasize about what the future might look like after the fall of society and fear the coming tribulation. Rome fretted about decline until its end. Stories of the Sea Peoples terrified the monarchs of the Late Bronze Age. During the 30 Years’ War, Europeans imagined Armageddon had finally begun. But a funny thing happens after the collapse: things tend to get a little better for everyone. Luke Kemp is here to hold our hands through the end of the world as we know it. Kemp is a researcher at Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the author of the book Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse. Beauty in collapseMatthew’s AI testThe Doctor Doom mask“Collapse was good for most people.”Sea People’s mentionedWhy a Goliath and not a Leviathan?Down with Thomas HobbesFear of a mass panic driving collapse“Emergency powers have a very funny tendency to stick around”The problem with guns, germs, and steelThe Tree of EvilOn the purpose of human sacrificeDoctor Doom is the belle of the ballAre we ending on a high note? Buy Goliath’s Curse Centre for the Study of Existential Risk The rewards of ruin Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 4m

  8. 10/31/2025

    Yes, US Strikes On Alleged Drug Traffickers Are Illegal. That Won’t Stop Them

    Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com This week on Angry Planet we have returning guest and former judge advocate Dan Maurer. The last time he was on the show, Maurer walked us through the consequences of a Supreme Court ruling that asked the question: is it illegal for the President to order SEAL Team Six to kill people? It was a surreal question that now feels more pressing. A US Carrier Strike Group is moving into South American waters to support America’s highly kinetic War on Drugs. Military lawyers might have advised the Trump administration that extra-judiciously executing alleged criminals in international waters is, in fact, illegal. But Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is no fan of military lawyers and fired the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of both the Army and the Air Force. The Pentagon plans to turn as many as 600 of the remaining military lawyers into immigration judges. The second Trump administration is perverting the law and sidelining anyone that might tell them it’s a bad idea. Since he was last on the show, Maurer has retired from the Army and is now a professor at Ohio Northern University’s college of law. He’s here to tell us how bad things are and how much worse they might get. The terminal parent metaphorA story that only ends one wayWhat’s a JAG?Hegseth’s JAG hateLaw as perversionAre these strikes legal? “No.”“It can be lawful, but not moral.”Legally speaking, you can’t be a combatant and a criminal.When Truman tried to take over the steel industry.Can state authorities arrest the feds?Life after Trump time Are Military Lawyers Being Sidelined? Defining ‘Rebellion’ in 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and the Insurrection Act On Treason and Traitors “Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.” Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr
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Conversations about conflict on an angry planet. Created, produced, and hosted by Matthew Gault and Jason Fields 781951 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Gault and Jason Fields
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    490
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © War College LLC
  • Show Website
    Angry Planet

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